I am so sad to read this:
Canadian novelist and poet Robert Kroetsch has died in a car accident near Drumheller, Alta. He was 83.
Kroetsch died Tuesday while returning to his home in Leduc, Alta., from the Artspeak Festival in Canmore, according his publisher University of Alberta Press.
What an extraordinary man he was! I know, because Kroetsch taught me in 1980, in my first year at the University of Calgary. Without getting into too much detail, I was leading a pretty rock’n’roll lifestyle in those days, and doing all kinds of things I shouldn’t have done. I missed a lot of classes and assignments, and I had rock-bottom grades to show for it.
One day, I got back an essay I had written for Kroetsch’s English class. I don’t remember the grade, but I certainly remember every word of what he wrote:
YOU ARE DESTROYING A GREAT TALENT. ROBERT KROETSCH.
I remember reading those words like they were written yesterday. They had the desired effect, too. I resolved to get my act together – so I quit what I was doing, transferred to another university, and ended up graduating in a lot better shape.
You know those teachers who change your life? Dave Beatty was one, and Father O’Brien, and George Roseme.
And Robert Kroetsch, who I will miss, and whose words I took to heart.
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